New Zealand Launches National Breastfeeding Promotion Campaign
by Jasmin Malik Chua, 10/19/09
Is breastfeeding in public indecent? Hardly. After all, a baby’s gotta eat when a baby’s gotta eat, and with all the documented evidence that breast is indeed best for both mother and child, the fact that the issue remains controversial is a head-scratcher—particularly when we’re subjected to far more lurid displays of flesh in the media. New Zealand’s Ministry of Health is hoping to normalize nursing with a series of ads that show babies being breastfed in several non-home settings, including in the office, at the library, at the airport, on a bus, and in a shopping mall.
Running as print ads in women’s and parenting magazines, as well as in the form of bus-shelter and mall posters, each image is accompanied by a quirky tagline like “Future astronaut preparing for liftoff” and “Future Prime Minister leading by example.”
At the bottom of each ad rests the campaign’s statement of purpose: “Wherever they’re heading, a healthy start in life will help them get there. In the community and workplace, breastfeeding is natural. Perfectly natural.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
+ New Zealand National Breastfeeding Programme (with thanks to Caitlin Fitzsimmons for the tip!)
